Can We Naturally Boost Ozempic-Like Hormones?

Article Round-Up: 11.5.23

Enjoy this week’s curated round-up of articles, podcasts, and more from the web to help you live a healthier, happier life.

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Featured Thoughts:

Some Foods Boost Ozempic-Like Hormone

Takeaway: Ozempic and Wegovy work by mimicking a hormone called GLP-1. This hormone is responsible for helping you feel satisfied, leading to lower levels of appetite. As it turns out, this hormone is naturally stimulated when eating foods containing certain types of fiber.

Foods like oats, beans, apples, and pears all do the trick.

This is exciting news, because it means consuming more of these fiberous foods can help stave off appetite in much the same way as Ozempic and Wegovy.

What’s even more important to recognize, is the role of continuing to shift eating habits to include more fiber-rich foods.

Concurrently making these dietary changes will help further support the results while taking these drugs.

Additionally, doing so will help ensure you establish the correct habits to maintain your healthy weight once you come off of the medication.

Current fiber guidelines for men and women are:

Adult Women: 25g/day

Adult Men: 38g/day

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Published This Week:

“I Just Started A New Exercise Routine. Can I Change The Order of Exercises?”

Takeaway: When is it okay to change the order of your exercises? There are two main scenarios. First, when you need a boost of motivation, feel free to put your favorite exercise first. Second, if someone's hogging the equipment you need at the gym, don't hesitate to switch things up to work around that limitation.

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The Key To A Strong Identity: Diversify Your Sense of Self

Takeaway: This article explores a concept you’ve seen me discuss before. The idea that defining yourself by a single activity can make you fragile and stressed when that activity encounters challenges. The key to a strong identity lies in diversifying your sense of self through diversifying the various components of your identity. By doing so, you become more resilient, flexible, and better equipped to handle life's ups and downs, ultimately leading to greater happiness and success.

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Reader Question:

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, and I don’t know what else to do…

For the first time in my adult life, I have kept a food journal. I have been hitting the gym 6-7 days a week doing cardio for 20-40 minutes, then lifting weights (heavy). I measure myself every week and the inches aren't going down.

I have been eating 1400 calories a day (I'm 5'4" and weight 228 pounds). I would EVEN BE HAPPY if I could get to 190 pounds. I have measured for BMR and it seems low, 1465. Based on this, I don't know if I'm meant to eat even less calories???

IF I even eat carbs, I eat whole grain. I don't drink sugary drinks. Sure, I've had minor setbacks and sometimes I'll get off course, but not for long.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT I’M DOING WRONG!!! I have read countless articles about different things to try (HIIT training, lifting heavy weights, what to eat/not eat, even articles about how the human body works)

I am beyond frustrated. I feel like it's hopeless. I've cried about it several times, given up, then returned back the gym after giving myself pep talks. But, aside from having endurance to exercise longer, I don't LOOK any different. What am I doing wrong?

It can feel so discouraging to be putting in so much effort without any results.

It sounds like your workout routine is consistent and rock solid. Let’s focus on the diet side of the equation.

Before we dive into diet suggestions, we have to do some homework. How is your sleep? Stress levels? While these might not directly impact your weight loss, they can indirectly influence factors such as: appetite, hormones, motivation, and other variables that could throw things off.

With that aside, let’s look directly at nutrition changes to try.

You’re logging your food. This is fantastic. That’s going to be the key to getting you out of this rut.

To take things a step further, purchase a food scale. This is the one I personally use and it’s great. Food scales a more accurate than either eye-balling portions or using measuring cups.

Next, make the effort to weigh everything you consume, no matter how trivial it seems. This includes:

• Coffee creamer

• Condiments/Marinades/Sauces

• Bites and nibbles (From your child’s plate, for example)

• Beverages other than water

This may not seem like it’s very impactful, but when combined over time these calories add up. Count them,

Then, be sure the portions you’re measuring are the same as the portions you are tracking. I’ve seen folks mistakenly log 6oz of steak as one serving because they didn’t realize one serving is only 3oz.

If possible, I’d also recommend limiting or even stopping any eating out for the time being. (This also includes takeout.)

Consider it an experiment to measure the role those meals play in your progress (or lack thereof).

Often, even when we think we’re making health-conscious choices at restaurants, these meals can still come in considerably higher in calories.

The reality is that if you are being diligent and still not seeing weight loss or body measurement changes, it’s because you’re eating more than you think.

Sometimes this can feel impossible, but I promise it’s more likely that you aren’t navigating this food environment as well as you think than your body being broken.

This sucks, but it’s also good news. It’s an easier problem to fix.

Try these recommendations and continue to measure your progress.

Lastly, if you’re reading this and feel equally as lost with your weight loss journey, click this link to setup a risk-free call so we can discuss your specific situation.

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P.S. If you enjoyed any of this week’s content, would you mind sharing with an interested friend? I greatly appreciate your help growing our community! Keep sending in those questions!